Dan Shaughnessy tells an emailer that he will address his David Ortiz comments on a NESN commentary soon. He sarcastically notes that “it’s certainly far more important than anything else at this hour and must be addressed.” He hopes that doing this will leave the emailer and their family, “fulfilled”. Way to reach out to the fans, Dan.

Guests on Dale & Neumy included Peter King, as well as Cam Neely, who will be having his number retired next January by the Bruins. There was also a lot of Seabiscuit and horse racing talk. They even discussed Bill Simmons’ Page2 article on the Seabiscuit movie.

"What might be most interesting to your readers is where Manny Ramirez ranks in terms of career slugging average (based on a minimum of 5000 plate appearances). #6 all time. Behind only the best of the best. Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Foxx, and Greenberg. And ahead of Bonds! Now that is impressive company indeed.

Indeed.

Win Bates gets the perspective of a few Red Sox players on what it is like to play in Boston. Jon Couture wonders if it’s too early to hitch ourselves to this Red Sox wagon. Steve Solloway and Kevin Thomas write about a “Maine day rally” held by the Sox in downtown Portland yesterday.

Learned enough about Brenden Stai yet? Well, here’s more from Tom King, Mark Farinella, Glen Farley, and Eric McHugh. McHugh’s piece also looks at the other newcomer to the O-Line, Bill Conaty. Farinella also writes about the wife of Patriots safety Chris Akins, who is a true Patriot.

Let’s talk some football to open. First of all, I’d like to announce the launching of a new website, the aim of which is to look at football in a whole new light. There are many statistics in football which can be used in misleading ways. For example, do good teams “establish the run early” as a key to winning the game, or do they get a big lead and then pad their running stats while sitting on the lead? Did Lawyer Milloy really do nothing all year last season as Jim Donaldson said in a recent column? The traditional stats might say one thing, while a better analysis might show something else. While there are many new statistical ways of looking at football on the site, it’s not all about the stats. There will be articles on various topics, hopefully presented with a bit of wit. There is also a blog to highlight the top football articles from around the country. The site will be useful to the fantasy football owner as well as to the casual and serious fan. The site is named Football Outsiders and the address of the site is http://www.footballoutsiders.com/. You might be interested in checking out the AFC East Preview, which is up, and will give you some insight you’re not likely to see elsewhere. I have a very small role on the site, mainly finding articles from the AFC and NFC East to post in the blog. It should be a fun thing to be a part of though.

Keeping with the football theme, above, I mentioned the theory of establishing the run. Michael Smith writes in the Globe today that the Patriots are committed to playing a physical style of play, establishing the run early in the game. Michael Parente looks at the second week of camp, with things picking up and falling into place. Tom Curran says the additions of Brenden Stai and Larry Centers will add much needed depth to the team roster. Dan Pires says Stai could be a steal, and also reports on a flood at Gillette stadium last Tuesday during the Bon Jovi concert. Rich Thompson has a closer look at Stai. Alan Greenberg looks at another fresh start for Stai, as he’s on his fifth team in five years. Christopher Price says Stai is an offensive lineman-for-hire. Parente notes that Stai knows some of the Patriots, having played with Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi before. Michael Gee’s pay column exhorts fans to forget about the 2001 Patriots and never compare this club or any other club to that team. Thompson’s notebook looks at Belichick getting down to business in the second week of camp. Curran’s notebook has “Assistant pro personnel director Ty Law” speaking on some new additions to the club. Smith’s notebook has Stai ready to jump into the action.

Another Dan Shaughnessy column comes and goes without contrition for his out-of-place comments about David Ortiz before the season. He does dub him the “new Yankee-killer”, but nothing about Dan’s own rude comments. Tony Massarotti says that the Sox may have exchanged roles with the Yankees, and now the Bomber might be the ones looking back over their shoulders. David Heuschkel says John Henry didn’t cry after the Sox beat the Yankees Sunday night, but he did get goosebumps… Steven Krasner says Casey Fossum is in a familiar position, wondering about his future with the trading deadline approaching. Michael Silverman looks at George Steinbrenner’s comments from yesterday and the reaction to them around the Sox. Gordon Edes also looks at Steinbrenner’s comments, and remind us that the Sox have a tough month of August still to play. Stan Grossfeld has the first of a two part feature on the individuals involved in the making of baseballs. Silverman also reports that the Sox don’t have any big trades in the works before the deadline. I would say that even if they did, we wouldn’t know about it, as Theo and his team have done a good job of keeping these things quiet. We had no real notice of the Kim and Sauerbeck trades until they were right upon us. Jon Wallach was feeling pretty good about the Sox after this weekend, but as his Yankee fan friend reminded him, it’s really not over. Bob Halloran says Grady Little won the weekend chess match with Joe Torre. Gerry Callahan’s pay column today says that it is a good thing that Billy Beane backed out of taking over the Red Sox. He would’ve dumped Varitek, announced the club wasn’t going to re-sign Nomar and wouldn’t have gotten along with Lucchino. Callahan says Theo is doing the job and doing it well. Edes’ notebook looks at Casey Fossum spending some time in Pawtucket, and Manny’s hot streak since the All Star break. Silverman’s notebook also looks at Fossum. Krasner’s notebook looks at AL player of the week Manny Ramirez.

Shira Springer reports on a sign and trade deal the Celtics have in the works to bring Jumaine Jones to to the team for J.R. Bremer and Bruno Sundov. Mark Murphy reports on the Celtics giving second round pick Brandon Hunter a two year deal. Murphy also reports on the Jones deal.

Bill Griffith reports on the 8th Big Man Run this past weekend as well as numbers from the weekend and assorted notes, including what’s up at WHDH TV. Jim Baker reported on the Sox/Yankees numbers in his pay column.

An emotionally spent fan base deserves the off day they have tonight to recover from this weekend. In Gordon Edes‘ game story, he tells a tale that shows how much Sox fans want to beat the Yankees. Michael Silverman says the Sox sent the message that they are not going away. David Heuschkel and Sean McAdam note that Ramiro Mendoza called Varitek’s pitch and home run. Perhaps the “embedded Yankee” is now serving as a triple agent. Art Davidson says that the seventh inning last night could be remembered as the moment that pushed the Sox over the top. Kevin Gray looks at a classic finish to a classic series. Jackie MacMullan says that the Sox produced in all areas of the game the last two games. Alex Speier notes that hanging on for the save meant the world for Byung-Hyun Kim. Tony Massarotti writes that with his production this weekend, Johnny Damon may have finally arrived for the 2003 season. Shira Springer looks at Yankee pitchers trying to take the loss in stride. Joe McDonald says that this time, the Yankees were the ones who wasted a great effort by a starting pitcher. Don Amore has Jeff Weaver wishing he could’ve finished that seventh inning. Mark Murphy and Aaron Harlan look at the curious decision by the Yankees to turn Jason Varitek around and allow him to hit right handed. McAdam says this was a late inning comeback like no other this team has put together this year. Michael Vega says Damon’s solo home run stole the spotlight. Rich Thompson looks at David Ortiz’s new role: Yankee Killer. Nick Cafardo looks at things from the Yankee side, this series didn’t turn out as planned for them. Thompson also looks at Manny’s great catch and his chatter in the clubhouse after the game. McDonald looks at the Giambi brothers, and their dinner together Saturday night. Murphy writes that Jeremy Giambi hopes that Saturday can help turn his season around. Steve Buckley’s pay column talks about the seventh inning wakeup call for the Red Sox last night, and how Manny doesn’t like that the team has an off day today. Michael Gee says the Sox are copying the Yankees pattern for winning games, and any team that has Manny excited about playing is doing something right. Howard Bryant’s first pay column says the Yankees are beatable this year. His second talks some about race, and how Ron Burton and others are saddened to see a few African American athletes putting their lives in jeopardy, and reinforcing unfair stereotypes along the way. Yesterday, John Tomase explored the reality that Nomar could be leaving Boston. Edes’ notebook looks at Nomar’s wrist after getting hit last night. Silverman’s notebook has more on that, and a note about Fossum as trade material. Heuschkel’s notebook says the Sox may go away from the 12 man pitching staff and add another position player.

Michael Felger looks at Damian Woody, who didn’t get his contract season off to a flying start by failing the conditioning test. Tyrone Poole appears to be the prime candidate to be the third Patriots training camp retiree in as many summers. Alan Greenberg, Michael Parenteand Shalise Manza Young look at Poole’s situation. The Globe notebook looks at the signing on Larry Centers as well as a few other notes from camp. Felger also reports on the signings of Centers and Brendan Stai. Young’s notebook looks at the tight end position, and Ty Law’s thoughts on the rookie corners, both of which he says can play at a high level. Yesterday, Hector Longo had a look at Rosevelt Colvin. SI’s Don Banks looks at the Patriots front seven on defense. Some interesting notes in there, such as how the switch to the 3-4 isn’t such a big deal, since they’ve done it off and on in the past, and will switch it up this year as well. Also Seymour will likely play around 50% of his plays on the inside. So not too much will change, but the hype about the switch to the 3-4 will give the press something to harp on if the defense struggles early in the season. Felger’s notebook has more on Poole’s wavering as to his football future.